EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCH

We want to feature your Parents as Teachers study here! We want to learn more about your approach to program evaluation and your findings so we can share it across our network. For your study to be considered for our website, please email a 500 word abstract that describes your program characteristics, evaluation design and findings to our research manager.

NOTE:We strongly encourage evaluation of Parents as Teachers at the local and state levels. Please be sure to contact us before initiating a study.

Study shows the impact of Parents as Teachers on school readiness.

"...states that wait to start early childhood education until age 4 are making a huge mistake...by starting at birth, Parents as Teachers starts at just the right time." Dr. Edward Zigler

Researchers at Cornell University find that the Supporting Care Providers Through Personal Visits curriculum/training is effective.

Parents as Teachers released results from a research study that shows the impact on home literacy activities when Parents as Teachers is augmented with the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library book distribution program

ONGOING RESEARCH SPONSORED BY PARENTS AS TEACHERS

With grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Parents as Teachers continues to examine the effectiveness of its model.

The Investing in Innovation (i3) project, awarded to Parents as Teachers in 2010, provides five years of support for the implementation and evaluation of the Baby FACE program, a home visiting program serving high-needs American Indian families with children from the prenatal period through three years of age. A rigorous, independent quasi-experimental study in 19 sites and a randomized control trial in one site will examine the number of books in the home, protective factors in the home environment, and parent perceptions of their children’s social-emotional development at ages two and three and children’s cognitive development and the frequency of home literacy activity at age three. Additional information can be found here.

RESOURCES FOR YOUR AFFILIATE'S PROGRAM EVALUATION

Evaluation allows affiliates to learn what's working well, identify what needs to be improved, and determine whether they are having the intended impact.

Check out the DOHVE Compendium of Measures for MIECHV Grantees (measurement resources relevant to home visiting programs)

Evidence Supporting Parents as Teachers

PAT detects developmental delays and health problems early.

Pfannenstiel J, Lente-Jojola D. (2011) The Family and Child Education (FACE) Program and School Readiness: A Structural Model Approach in an American Indian Reservation Context. Journal of American Indian Education, 50(2), 84-96.

PAT children score higher on measures of achievement, language ability, social development, persistence in task mastery and other cognitive abilities.

Wagner M, Spiker D, Linn MI. (2002) The effectiveness of the Parents as Teachers program with low-income parents and children. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 22(2), 67-81.

PAT combined with quality preschool reduces the achievement gap between low-income and more advantaged children at kindergarten entry.

Pfannenstiel JC, Seitz V, Zigler, E. (2003) Promoting school readiness: The role of the Parents as Teachers program. NHSA Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the early Intervention Field, 6(1), 71-86.

Children achieve school success into the elementary grades.

Drazen SM, Haust M. (1993) Raising reading readiness in low-income children by parent education. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada August 1993.

Families who take part in PAT had more books in their homes and spent more time reading together then families without PAT.

Parents as Teachers. (August 2016) Evaluating an Investing in Innovations Project to Improve Education Outcomes for American Indian Children. St Louis, MO.Center for Early Education Evaluation at High Scope. (2015) Report: Results of the Innovative Approaches to Literacy Project. Parents as Teachers: St. Louis, MO.

Parents who take part in PAT are more engaged in literacy activities at home and in their child’s school.

Albritton S, Klotz J, Roberson T. (2004) The effects of participating in a Parents as Teachers program on parental involvement in the learning process at school and in the home. E-Journal of Teaching & Learning in Diverse Settings, 1(2), 189–208.

Zigler E, Pfannenstiel JC, Seitz V. (2008) The Parents as Teachers program and school success: A replication and extension. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 29(2), 103-120.

The High 5 programs combined diet and nutrition information with the PAT program and found that parents increased their intakes of fruit and vegetables and made improvement in their fat eating behavior lowering overall fat intake.

Program and State Highlights

When Parents as Teachers is augmented with the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library book distribution program home literacy activities increased. The project report and a related infographic are available.

The Investing in Innovation (i3) project, awarded to Parents as Teachers in 2010, provides five years of support for the implementation and evaluation of the Baby FACE program, a home visiting program serving high-needs American Indian families with children from the prenatal period through 3 years of age. A rigorous, independent quasi-experimental study in 19 sites and a randomized control trial in one site examined the number of books in the home, protective factors in the home environment, and parent perceptions of their children’s social-emotional development at ages 2 and 3 and children’s cognitive development and the frequency of home literacy activity at age 3. A summary of the evaluation findings is available here and an associated infographic here.

In Colorado, children receiving PAT had statistically significant increases in their school readiness skills. The full Colorado report can be found here.

The Maine Healthy Families report found that children in PAT had higher than average rates of up to date immunizations, identified primary care providers, and children with health insurance. The full Maine report can be found here.

A study of Missouri children taking part in Parents as Teachers found that PAT parents were more likely to enroll their children in pre-school and read more frequently to their children helping to better prepare them for kindergarten. A summary of the Missouri findings can be found here.

International Findings

The ZEPPELIN project, the Parents as Teachers project in Switzerland, found an increase in language and cognition abilities in PAT families as compared to a control. Find out more about the ZEPPELIN project here.

The Parents as Teachers National Center would like to talk to you about what you are doing to evaluate your programs. The National Center research and evaluation staff are also available to help with evaluation questions or consultation. Feel free to contact Allison Kemner, Keri Jupka, or Michael Sophir for additional information.

Evidence supporting other Parents as Teachers products

The Cornell Early Childhood Program utilized Parents as Teachers Supporting Care Providers in Personal Visits curriculum for use with home based child care providers. The providers that took part in this program were ranked higher than a control group in a number of important child care areas including providing basic care, learning activities, social development, opportunities for language and listening to improve childhood development and space and furnishing.

McCabe, L. and M. Cochran (2008). Can home visitation increase the quality of home-based child care? Findings from the Caring for Quality Project Research Brief, The Cornell Early Childhood Program 3. The brief is available here.